HUMAN-WILD RANGIFER SYSTEMS

Transcription

1 Expert Network Monitoring Plan HUMAN-WILD RANGIFER SYSTEMS Supporting Publication to the Circumpolar Biodiversity Monitoring Program Framework Document

2 CAFF Designated Agencies: Environment Canada, Ottawa, Canada Finnish Ministry of the Environment, Helsinki, Finland Greenland Homerule, Ministry of the Environment, Nuuk, Greenland Icelandic Institute of Natural History, Reykjavik, Iceland Directorate for Nature Management, Trondheim, Norway Russian Federation Ministry of Natural Resources, Moscow, Russia Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, Stockholm, Sweden United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Anchorage, Alaska This publication should be cited as: CAFF Human-Wild Rangifer Systems. Expert Network Monitoring Plan. Supporting publication to the CAFF Circumpolar Biodiversity Monitoring Program Framework Document. By CARMA in cooperation with CAFF. CAFF CBMP Report No. 11, CAFF International Secretariat, Akureyri, Iceland. Cover photo: A July aggregation of the Porcupine Caribou Herd near the Yukon/Alaska border. Photo courtesy of Debbie van de Wetering. For further information and additional copies, please contact: CAFF International Secretariat Borgir Nordurslod 600 Akureyri Iceland Phone: Fax: caff@caff.is Internet: CAFF Designated Area Layout and printing by Prentstofan Stell ehf.

3 Expert Network Monitoring Plan HUMAN-WILD RANGIFER SYSTEMS Supporting Publication to the Circumpolar Biodiversity Monitoring Program Framework Document Prepared by: Don Russell, Gary Kofinas, and Wendy Nixon CARMA Network Coordinators Update Report CAFF CBMP Report No. 11 October Yukon College, Yukon don.russell@ec.gc.ca Institute of Arctic Biology/University of Alaska, Fairbanks gary.kofinas@uaf.edu 3 Environment Canada, Yukon wendy.nixon@ec.gc.ca

4 CARMA Mission To monitor and assess the impacts of global change on the Human-Rangifer system across the circum-arctic, through cooperation, both geographically and across disciplines. Background In February 2000, the Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna Working Group of the Arctic Council (CAFF), met in Iceland to respond to an Arctic Council recommendation that a circumpolar monitoring network be established. The Circumpolar Biodiversity Monitoring Program (CBMP) was endorsed by Arctic Council Ministers in Under the CBMP, there are several species monitoring networks. CAFF proposed that one of the networks monitor Rangifer populations and the human interactions with this important resource. After a number of small, preliminary meetings the Rangifer network, officially called the CARMA Network (CircumArctic Rangifer Monitoring and Assessment Network), was launched at an international meeting in Vancouver, Canada in November The highlights of that meeting were: Photo copyright: Wendy Nixon Attended by 35 representatives from seven circum-arctic countries; from universities, governments, aboriginal organizations; representing expertise in social science, physical science and biological science. Agreed on name of network and logo Adopted the mission statement Developed and adopted an organizational structure Developed website and discussed a communication strategy Developed a preliminary list of indicators Discussed data sharing and data management CARMA held a second annual meeting in November Considerable time was spent further developing the indicators and identifying champions who would propose standardized protocols. The second focus of the meeting was to outline a CARMA proposal to be submitted for International Polar Year funding. Photo copyright: Debbie van de Wetering The following report represents the current status of the CARMA Network based on discussions at these first two official annual meetings. 1

5 Figure 1: Circumpolar distribution of Rangifer herds Newfoundland Boreal Atlantic Southern Mountain Northern Mountain Yukon Alaska George River Leaf River Qamanirjuaq Beverly Ahiak Bathurst Bluenose East Bluenose West Cape Bathurst Porcupine Central Arctic Teshekpuk Western Arctic South Baffin Island Coats Island Southhampton Island Lorillard Wager Bay North Baffin Island Northeast Baffin Island Eastern Queen Elisabeth Island Bathurst Island Prince Of Wales-Somerset-Boothia Western Queen Elisabeth Island Banks Island Northwest Victoria Dolphin-Union Chukotka Sudrunskaya Yana-Indigirka Novosibiriski Ostrova Lena-Olenek Taimyr Severnaia Zemlia Gydan Belyi Novaya Zemlia Svalbard Parapolskii Kamchatka Amur Okhotsk Yakutsk Evenkiya Nadym-Pur (Yamal Okrug) Arkhangelsk Oblast Terskiill Bereg (Kola) Laplandskii Zapovednik (Kola) Range of Forest Reindeer Finland Norway Iceland Greenland Greenland Feral Reindeer Range of Domestic Reindeer 2

6 Principles and Scope of the Network 1. Focus on wild Rangifer populations. The network is initially concerned with large migratory Rangifer herds and their human user communities, thus less emphasis is placed on woodland/forest and Peary/marine Rangifer populations. However, there are issues related to wild populations that also impact domestic reindeer enterprises. The network will consider the magnitude and trends of interactions that incidentally affect domestic populations, particularly in Russia and Alaska. The CARMA network will link with similar networks concerned with domestic reindeer issues to ensure approaches are complimentary. Photo copyright: Debbie van de Wetering 2. Be simple and relevant. There is tremendous depth and breadth of activities in managing and assessing the status of Rangifer populations in the circumpolar North. It is impossible for any network to try to include all these activities. The success of the network will depend on our ability to identify the common, relevant indicators that, when examined on a circumpolar basis, help our partners better understand their herds and the factors that impact their well-being. 3. Be dynamic; herd-specific data can be added at any time. We propose an open network where new herds, regions, indicators and partners can be added on an ongoing basis. Photo copyright: Wendy Nixon 4. Be a central depository for historical and current information on Rangifer indicators. The communication tools will be web-based and will serve as a site that researchers, managers, and co-management groups can visit to obtain up-to-date information on Rangifer herds. 5. Include community, industry, university, and agency-based monitoring information. The network will access existing information from a number of sources and integrate them where feasible. Local knowledge, field-based biological monitoring, and remote sensing are all considered critical elements in the CARMA Network, and provide an important means for linking scales of analysis to arrive at a complete picture of regional and circumpolar perspectives. As funding for a comprehensive CARMA Network is at present very limited, activities will initially focus on using existing monitoring activities rather than initiating new data-collection initiatives. 6. Provide annual analysis of Rangiferrelevant indicators across the circumpolar North. On an annual basis, the network will provide a circum-arctic summary of the status of indicators of the human-rangifer system. 4

7 with a number of partners in Russia and Fennoscandia. IASC funds provided support for several partners to attend the official launch of the CARMA Network in Canada s Climate Change Action Fund (CCAF): CCAF provided funds to develop indicators and support for the organization of the 2004 launch. Photo copyright: Don Russell Acknowledgements CARMA coordinators have received funding from a number of sources to help launch the network. U.S. National Science Foundation/Arctic Systems Science Program in the Office of Polar Programs: Through the Sustainability of Arctic Communities project and the current Heterogeneity and Resilience of Human Rangifer System Synthesis project, we are testing a model of communitybased ecological monitoring and are assembling historical data for many barren ground caribou populations. Northern Ecosystem Initiative (NEI): Environment Canada s NEI provided funding to develop some of the indicators (e.g. harvest data, body condition data), and conduct protocol workshops. NEI was the primary sponsor of the official launch of the CARMA Network in Photo copyright: Don Russell International Arctic Science Committee (IASC): IASC has funded a project on the Human Role in Reindeer/Caribou Systems to stimulate international research. IASC funding has provided opportunities to meet 1 3

8 7. Provide a forum for standardized protocols in collecting, documenting, and assembling indicators. Although not requiring standardized protocols, the network will provide recommended protocols that are available to monitoring programs. Providing standard protocols at this time, will gradually allow participants to modify existing or initiate new monitoring programs whenever feasible. Ongoing feedback from participants will serve to adapt and improve protocols as needed. 8. Provide annual value-added indicators that all regions can share. A major valueadded benefit of the network will be the provision of a circumpolar compilation of annual climatic and habitat conditions. Indicators such as snow conditions (depth, water equivalent), snow melt and green-up can be provided utilizing existing projects that provide this information on a periodic basis. We will use these existing projects and target seasonal ranges of specific herds. Photo copyright: Debbie van de Wetering Network Organization The coordination of the CARMA Network will rely on information from partner countries regarding their wild herds and observations from their communities. As well, circum-arctic monitoring data from existing remote sensing platforms (i.e. satellite, weather stations) will be obtained. All of these data will be integrated and periodic reports and assessments produced. Figure 2 summarizes the flow of information and products produced by the CARMA Network. The Canadian Wildlife Service of Environment Canada and the Institute of Arctic Biology of the University of Alaska are prepared to serve as interim coordinating organizations for the CARMA Network during its start-up phase. 9. Provide a forum for exchange of ideas. Using the web-based communication tools, we are able to provide a site for an informal exchange of ideas, observations and activities. 5

9 Figure 2: Flow of information and products produced by CARMA Coordination within CARMA Finland Norway Iceland Greenland Canada Russia U.S. Herd data, community monitoring CARMA coordination Protocols Integration Assessment Communications Annual reports CARMA International Polar Year Project With direction from the 2nd annual CARMA meeting, coordinators submitted a proposal to the Canadian IPY committee. Synopsis: The goal of this project is to improve understanding of the relative resilience and vulnerability of regional Human-Rangifer Systems to climate change. A Human-Rangifer System is defined here at the regional scale as the set of ecological and social processes underlying the human use of wild Rangifer. Human-Rangifer Systems have historically provided and continue to provide keystone ecosystem services to indigenous residents, with Rangifers being the most important terrestrial subsistence resource of the Arctic System. Our work is motivated by the almost universal projections of significant changes in regional climates across the circumpolar north, at a time when more demands are being placed on the extraction of non-renewable resources in these regions. Our primary tool will be comparative synthesis and assessment at a circumpolar scale, appreciating the fact that climate changes across the north are extremely heterogeneous. Rather than view this complexity as a challenge, in this proposed project, we view the heterogeneity of the Arctic System as an opportunity, providing a set of natural experiments to address research questions through comparative analysis. 6

10 Project Objectives: Long Term: Assess the resilience and vulnerability of Human- Rangifer Systems across the circum-arctic through coordinated knowledge collection and sharing and, using this multi-disciplinary exchange, develop and promote adaptive strategies and policies that will ensure a sustainable Human- Rangifer future. Short Term: 1. Create a circumpolar database of existing data on tundra-dwelling, wild Rangifer. 2. Support the development, design, testing and implementation of standardized monitoring protocols to assess the impacts of climate change on Human-Rangifer Systems. 3. Facilitate two years of coordinated, standardized and intensive monitoring of selected reference herds across the circum- Arctic. 4. Using comparative analysis, test a number of research questions through retrospective analysis of existing data (from #1), and data generated through the circumpolar monitoring program (from #3). 5. Undertake a circumpolar assessment and report through scientific publications, popular articles, web sites and university-level curriculum on the status of Human-Rangifer Systems, highlighting, where feasible, stressors, degrees of vulnerabilities and resilience. 6. Develop, implement and evaluate decisionsupport tools that allow for a meaningful dialogue between northern residents, resource managers, and project partners, to help facilitate the development of adaptive responses through policies and practices that support sustainability of herds and their user communities. 7. Evaluate the project, making recommendations to the CARMA Network on priority-setting into the next decade. CARMA Network linked to Research Projects One of the roles of the CARMA Network is to help in the coordination and integration of Rangifer-related research. Primarily through the IPY process, in which CARMA was identified as an international network cluster lead, CARMA was linked to a number of ongoing and proposed research projects. CAFF Working Group of the Arctic Council: Circumpolar Biodiversity Monitoring Program (CBMP): The CBMP is an international network of key scientists and conservation experts from eight Arctic countries, as well as six indigenous organizations. The CARMA Network is one of the species networks that will form part of the CBMP. CBMP and CARMA will work together to ensure that remote sensing monitoring and data management are coordinated and compatible. Canada: A network of automated weather stations for the Sahtu Settlement Area. This project is related to CARMA in that data collected will be valuable to validate remote sensing data on green-up, snow accumulation, and snow melt within the ranges of three barren-ground herds. Canada: Resilience of Caribou and Reindeer Populations: Validation and Application of the Filter Paper Technique to Assess Exposure to Pathogens during International Polar Year(s). The proposed research program will complement CARMA by developing and validating techniques that can be employed by the CARMA monitoring program. The project will determine if blood on filter paper, collected and stored under conditions that would be typical in the Arctic/Subarctic, can be used to reliably detect presence or exposure to various important pathogens of Rangifer. 7

11 USA/Canada: Resource allocation for nitrogen balance in Rangifer: the body-diet continuum. This project also is related to CARMA as its goal is to develop an operational technique to determine: 1) How do timing of birth and food intake affect the maternal allocation of energy and nitrogen (protein) in Rangifer; and 2) How do winter diet and nitrogen balance vary within and between wild Rangifer herds? USA: Heterogeneity and Resilience of Human- Rangifer Systems: A Circumpolar Social-Ecological Synthesis. This project complements the CARMA project by advancing the science of resilience / vulnerability assessment by focusing on six regional case studies. Each case will be examined by: 1) Conducting a retrospective analysis of change in our case study regions to understand driving factors and internal processes; 2) Conducting comparative analysis of regional case studies to understand heterogeneity and its implications to resilience and vulnerability; 3) Developing rule-based simulation models for exploring system dynamics. Leads for this project are also key collaborators within the CARMA project. Norway: Rangifer a circumpolar resource in a changing climate. This project will forecast the effects of global climate change on Rangifer by using prehistoric and historic data. Through linkages with other IPY activities, the project will facilitate translation and outreach of the research to ensure the sustainability of Rangifer ecosystems and their relationship to indigenous people. Norway: Arctic Vulnerability Network Study: Reindeer Herding in a Changing Climate- Coping Mechanisms and Adaptive Capacity (EALAT). EALAT is a parallel project to CARMA (and also a network under the CBMP) focusing on domestic reindeer herding in Arctic and sub- Arctic Eurasia. Its approach is holistic, integrating social and natural science and users understanding in the co-production of knowledge. CARMA (confined to wild herds and hunting) has held meetings with the EALAT coordinator and will ensure methodologies are compatible and transferable. Russia: Study of spatial and temporary dynamics of reindeer populations (on a sample {Taimyr} population). This project will provide important data to include the Taimyr wild reindeer herd (possibly the largest in the world) as one of CARMA s reference herds. Denmark (Greenland): VICAFE: Virtual Caribou/Reindeer in a Future Environment. This project proposes to create a virtual caribou / reindeer herd, which despite changing climate conditions permits predictions about how the herd will move through and use its environment (range) as well as about productivity / reproduction and herd size. The virtual herd will be a useful tool for Arctic communities, which are dependent upon caribou / reindeer. Future Plans CARMA s 3rd annual meeting will take place in Vancouver in November 2006 and will focus on coordinating and implementing successful IPY projects under the CARMA umbrella. Photo copyright: Don Russell Websites